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Added 8 October 2026

dodge

/dɒd͡ʒ/ noun

noun Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about dodge at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

An elaborate or deceitful scheme contrived to deceive or evade.
his testimony was just a contrivance to throw us off the track
A quick evasive movement.
A statement that evades the question by cleverness or trickery.

verb

Make a sudden movement in a new direction so as to avoid.
The child dodged the teacher's blow
Move to and fro or from place to place usually in an irregular course.
the pickpocket dodged through the crowd
Avoid or try to avoid fulfilling, answering, or performing (duties, questions, or issues).
He dodged the issue

Origin

Likely from dialectal dodge, dod, dodd (“to jog, trudge along, totter", also "to jerk, jig”), of uncertain origin. Perhaps from unrecorded Middle English *dodden, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *dud- (“to move”), related to Old English dydrian, dyderian (“to delude, deceive”), Middle English dideren (“to tremble, quake, shiver”), English dodder, Norwegian dudra (“to tremble”).

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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